Some sailors are try to put together a race to Cuba and back. Forget the politics of this. I have a desire to do this race as only 18 - 22 foot catamarans will be allowed. The race organizeers are challenging the structural abilities of the wings and the sockets that they sit in. They believe that this will be extreme sailing and the wings and sockets may fail and perhaps cause a death and give this race a black eye.

Also they believe that boat cannot be righted. I am sure I can have some one who has the righting pole completed can do a video so that this can be disproven. A video of the Hobie 21 being righted may help convince more people to bring these boats out of mothballs and start sailing them again.

That's a drag. I was actually making plans to come down from Vancouver, Canada to partcipate. In fact, I just had a trailer delivered yesterday for just this purpose.

Though I don't have a video, I can attest that the boat can be righted by one person as I did so numerous times to test my righting pole. With 2 on board, its a complete piece of cake. Also, with the race being restricted to 18 - 22 ft cats, is their opinion that other 20 - 22 ft cats i.e. SC20/22 wouldn't pose the same challenge in righting?

Regarding the wings, I don't know where that's coming from. There are few areas for the wing to fail and frankly, if we were to drill out the existing rivets and re-rivet the top sections to the struts, then we should be good to go.

As a final observation, I'd much prefer to be on a 21 with the wings as the added leverage would make the sail a much more comfy one as well as a safe one with the added waterline length and beam.

The race organizers must be thinking about righting the boat from a turtle position. A typical crew probably would not be able to right from this position. I installed a Momma Bob float to keep this from happening in the colder waters in the northwest and think that this would eliminate their worries.

The wings hold some big stresses and if they are installed correctly, they should not have any stresses big enough to break while sailing.

OK..I'll give them that one. Still, that obstacle can be overcome by making the use of a mast bob a requirement. As added insturance when I head offshore alone, I've taken a fender and attached it to the spinnaker halyard so that can be hoisted to the tang in the event of a spill allowing some breathing room to get myself organized to re-right it. When not in use, I lash it to the forward crossbeam with velcro straps so that its out of the way until needed. Its untested but we've found that with 2 of us, we can generally have one person hiking out off the hull to stop it from going full turtle while I get the pole set up and within a minute, we're back up and sailing.

Where in the Northwest do you sail? You might want to get up here for an informal cat event that we're having next year on our island next July. We're thinking of having some casual informal racing in a poker run fashion followed by social time together.

I think you should read the past posts on the Cuba Run 2010. Please read my posts more than once. GaryHobie Cat 21 SE USA 415Then again I was thinking about why stop at Cuba keep on going until Brazil.

I dug our boat out of the shed with the idea of doing this daysail. It's dissapointing if the 21 is disqualified. I'm sure I can invent something to get it up from turtle but haven't thought about it yet. I'm not worried about the wings but if the powers say otherwise I guess that's that. The only ones I known anything about failing were from freezing water and I don't think that's much of a worry down there.

If you are looking to do this race HOBIE 21'S ARE NOT DISQUALIFIED. The race organizers have not firmly made up the rules or requirements. Nor have they received permission from the US Treasury Dept. Stay tuned and look at the weather in the strait as to what its going to be like out there in two weeks.

I am sure if someone will make a video of the Hobie 21 being righted and with the mast bob to prevent turtleing, the Hobie 21 will be allowed. As always if more Hobie 21's that want to go I am sure we can go. A lot is tentative as you would expect for a race of this type in this early stage. Lets start counting boats and make ourselves heard.

Good point Michael. I'd be game but its too bloody cold to go dump her this weekend...mind you, the water is cold every weekend here.

In the end, I'm certain that commom sense will prevail if we can discuss the matter further with the race organizers in an effort to plead our case. Between all of the Hobie 21 owners, we must be able to give them what they need to reassure them of the 21SE's viability in open water. I'll tell ya, I spent my life racing big boats and what impresses me the most about the H21 is just how well it manages nasty conditions. I'm up in the Pacific Northwest where we have big water and bigger waves and I've never questioned the boat's ability...not once. Seems the rougher and windier it gets, the more fun it becomes. I've been across the Georgia Strait solo (38 mi) a half dozen times since getting the 21 and its never once given me any cause to be concerned. Of any Hobie model ever built, the 21 would by far be the most capable Hobie to take offshore.

I've fired off an email to John Webster to respectfully ask if there is anything that we can do to assure the race organizers of the viability of the H21 SE for going offshore. We'll see what happens. I'd be prepared to jump through a few hoops to make this happen.

Now that I have the righting pole rigged and only 3 more weekends of soccer....I will be sailing again Thanksgiving weekend. I am hoping that I do not need the righting pole, but I will definitely film if I go over. Dave, with your assurances of righting solo and with my momma bob on the mast, I think I should have no problem getting the boat up next time with two. With the time of year and colder water, I do not think that I will be purposely flipping for the fun of it though.

Can't wait to sail from Bellingham to your island next summer. I think this would be a great trip. We'll see what the schedule is and keep it marked....

Key West to Cuba in one day?It took me 4 hours to sail around Key West on a good dayMany coral heads shallow water shifting winds to many beersWe had anchored the boats in a cove in the morning the Hobies were in about 1' of algaeHad to swim thru this stinking mess to get to the boat

How many miles is it? We sailed 17's from Maui to Oahu in one day leaving late morning but it was a broad reach all the way in 25 knots. That was 70 miles in a straight line but we stopped for lunch on Molokai. According to the chart I bought and outlined the route we took after getting back, we sailed about 85 miles. It was a fun and memorable day.

edited: I looked it up and Key West to Cuba is 94 in a straight line. It seems that if conditions were perfect and leaving a bit before first light that it would be a one day trip. If there was a chase boat halfway it would make it a lot more comfortable. We had a small "chase" airplane keep checking on us for the Hawaii trip.

I have sailed over 100 miles in a day many times. The chances of going straight shot screaming reach to Cuba AND Back are slim. The Gulf Stream can really kick up some waves depending on wind conditions. What will a chase boat do except pick up survivors I have towed a hobie and it is tough in a lake much less high winds and large waves. Towing a hobie slows you down to about 10MPH. Again I would be very cautious even in my 24' Hydra Sport Center Console. Very few people seem to have ever been around a coral head or streches of very shallow water which is around Key West. I have heard that coral heads and shallows are tough on boats less than the Hobie 21 SEI waited a whole month in the keys for one good weather day to go to Fort Jefferson.At least if the race is called off there are great places to drink. World Class Bars that is.

I do think a trip not a race to Bimini would be a better idea. Shorter by 40 miles. More boats in the area. US Coast Guard and Sea Tow close. Much less political problems. The Government of the Bahamas would probably sponser a group of Hobies Search "Bahamas Boating Flings" Gary Hobie 21SE

Yeah, that sounds like a good thing to do. I think the Cuba Run would be good if there was enough time to sit around on both ends and wait for the conditions to get right, but I wouldn't want to plan it say on Nov. 18, 2010. I wouldn't care a thing about doing it in less than a 12 knot wind. We have connections in Cuba so it would be cool for us to do.

I was thinking of something bigger and faster than a 24' in case one way turned into overnight. I wouldn't care at all if it was considered a race or not either. An adventure is good enough.